Oleksandra Samsonova: A Russian citizen voluntarily fighting against Russian aggression in Ukraine.

Oleksandra Samsonova, originally from Russia, had previously visited Ukraine frequently. During school years, she went abroad to study in the United Kingdom and the USA. Professionally trained as a lawyer, she graduated from the International Trade College but did not work in the field. In 2020, she delved into the topic of the war that her country was waging on East of Ukraine. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Oleksandra informed her family and friends that she would soon return. Carrying just one suitcase, she headed to Ukraine.

In Ukraine, Oleksandra decided to join volunteer organizations. As of today, she is a volunteer who has been fighting for Ukraine's freedom for three years. Read more about her views on the war, connections with Russia, helping animals, and her biggest dream in our material.

The Russian Federation initiated the war against Ukraine in 2014 when Oleksandra was 15. By 2020, as she researched the war, she became aware of the unjust actions of Russia. This realization led her to make a drastic decision to leave her home country and go to Ukraine to fight.

"I had been to Ukraine before and fell in love with the country and the people. The people here are noble. When Russia acts unfairly towards them, it is important for me to join the fight against this injustice. At that moment, I didn't even think about trying myself in volunteering. I immediately understood: there is a war, Russia is to blame, and I need to participate directly. The hatred towards Ukrainians in Russia didn't start in 2022 or even in 2014. It happened much earlier. It was all fueled by propaganda and later only got worse."

At home, Oleksandra mentioned that she had to go to Ukraine for the funeral of a close friend. She did not reveal her plans to participate in the war.

"Later, of course, my family found out. They didn't quite understand what was happening and even took the news of my participation in the war somewhat ironically. They thought I was joking."

Due to her Russian citizenship, Oleksandra could not join the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Instead, she ended up in a volunteer unit. She acknowledges that there was some skepticism towards her, precisely because of her citizenship.

"But I understood this; it's primarily about the safety of the Ukrainian army. There were rumors about me leaking information. One suspicion was that I was preparing to shoot provocative videos for Russia. There were also situations where people didn't take me seriously because of my appearance. It took quite some time, about half a year, for the leadership to start treating me well. To achieve that, I had to perform tasks on par with everyone else. I worked on myself physically."

Initially, Oleksandra joined volunteer formations, where she underwent training in firearms, tactics, sapper and engineering affairs, and medicine. She didn't define herself but learned everything. During training, she realized that she excelled at shooting, so she chose the path of a marksman.

"In 2020, I hadn't gone to war yet, just training. There were really many courses and trainings. In early 2021, I joined the Hospitallers (a volunteer medical battalion). I took a course in combat medicine with them. But I realized that medicine is not for me, although that knowledge turned out to be very important. With the Hospitallers, I went on rotations because I had friends there. It's very important for me to work where my friends are. But I was not a medic; I was a shooter. We went to the area of Volnovakha."

Before the full-scale war began, the unit Oleksandra worked with was preparing for these events, planning how and with whom they would work. The realization that a major war was imminent came clearly in the fall of 2021.

"On February 24, 2022, I was at home in Kyiv. I've been waking up early for many years, so I didn't sleep that night either. I understood something was happening from my dog's reaction; I heard explosions. It took me a few days to settle the animals I was taking care of. And on February 26, I was in the unit."

By the way, Oleksandra has been involved in animal volunteering for many years—rescuing abandoned animals, treating them, and finding them new homes. After the start of the full-scale war, she evacuates animals from the combat zone. In the future, she dreams of having her own shelter for stray animals.

"There were cases when I had to take horses and birds home. I brought a mare from Odesa; she was taken from a slaughterhouse, and her joints were broken. Since she was unfit for work, I had to buy her, and for some time, she was under my care. Later, I found a place for her with people, where she doesn't have to work. In reality, there is no opportunity to evacuate animals from the combat zone, but I constantly ask and sometimes even speak to my leadership, and they have to load animals into vehicles during rotations because they love and respect me. If I can't find a new home for the animals immediately, I take them to my place for temporary care."

When asked to boast a bit and name an action she is proud of, Oleksandra responds that she is quite self-critical.

"A characteristic trait of the military is never knowing the measure. We talked about it with my military friends. The military will never admit that they have done enough. I have such a problem that I can't stop. Even when they tell me I've done enough and it's time to focus on my own life, I can't stop until my friends are still at war. Despite the fact that I really don't want to be at war because I don't like it."

Oleksandra sees victory only for Ukraine but notes that the vision of the future is currently shaky.

"Now I see that the people of Ukraine are being driven to a state where they have no strength to speak out. Many are tired of the war, and that's understandable. But in Ukraine, a new generation needs to be raised, which will understand from childhood what is what and be able to set priorities. They should understand that if there is a war, it's important to act. It's crucial to instill this in children from upbringing. For me, victory will be the collapse of the Russian Federation. It's naive, but I have such a desire, and I can't do anything about it."

The publication was released within the UN Women project «Transformational Approaches to Gender Equality in Ukraine» with the support of the Office of the Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine and the funding from the Government of Sweden. The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of UN Women.